Friday, 6 March 2015

In one of my What I Ate Wednesday videos, I presented these sweet potato flatbreads with mashed avocados as what I ate for breakfast on that day. I have had quite a few requests for the recipe since then. So, I thought I'd share the recipe; it is such an easy one with just two ingredients. Who doesn't like a two-ingredient recipe?! One important procedure in this recipe is to use the sweet potato while it is hot. The heat makes a much softer roti.

By the way, white sweet potatoes would also work well in this recipe although the dough may require a tablespoon of water added in as white sweet potatoes tend to be a little drier than the orange ones.

The recipe is for six flatbreads but most of the time I double the recipe as they keep well in an airtight container for the next day. Reheating them on a tawa or skillet brings their softness back. They go well with sweet as well as savoury fillings. I do suggest you pair them with some spicy curry as their subtle sweetness makes a palatable contrast.

Soft fluffy rotis are one of many reasons why I could not give up gluten completely. Infact, I haven't attempted making them gluten-free (yet); I might try and experiment a little and see what I come up with.

Steam or boil the sweet potatoes until they are very soft. Check with a fork to see if they are cooked and then, take them out of the pan.

Allow them to cool for a couple of minutes but try to peel them while they are still quite hot. We need them to be hot or at least warm in this recipe.

Use a fork if it helps to peel them while they are hot. Then mash the sweet potatoes. If you are using leftover sweet potatoes, reheat them until they are hot before using them in this recipe.

In a mixing bowl, add one cup of all purpose flour. Add in the mashed sweet potato. Start by mixing with a fork as the sweet potato will be too hot to handle at this stage.

Once the mixture is okay to handle, continue the mixing with your hand and work the mixture until a dough is formed. Once the dough is formed, do not overwork it as it may start to get sticky and then you will need to add more flour which will result in a hard roti.

Flour the work surface and place the dough on it. Roll it into a thick log. Then cut the log into 6 equal portions.

Keep a bowl of flour close by. Dust your hands with a little flour and take one piece of dough. Roll it in between your palms into a ball then lightly flatten it. Dip the ball into the bowl of flour and cover it with flour on both sides. Now lightly flatten the edge of the ball with your thumb and first finger. This will help keep its round shape when we roll it out.

Set the floured ball aside or place it back into the mixing bowl. Do the same for the rest of the pieces.

Take one ball and place on the work surface or board. Begin to roll it out. Turn it on the other side and continue to roll out by applying even pressure so that the roti can rotate on itself to create a nice round shape. Flour the roti if you need to but not too much as this may result in a hard flatbread. Roll out until the roti is about 2 mm thick.

Meanwhile, heat a tawa, skillet or crepe pan on medium heat. When the pan is hot, place the roti on it and allow it to cook for 20 to 30 seconds. Then flip the roti at 30 second intervals. When the roti starts to bubble, leave it to cook for a little longer than 30 seconds before flipping. The bubbles mean that the hot air is cooking it from the inside too. Cook the roti for a total of two to two and a half minutes.

Store the roti in a container or plate lined with a clean tea towel. Always keep the rotis covered with the tea towel to keep them soft. This will also prevent them for getting soggy with the steam in the container.

Now repeat for the rest of the rotis.

Occasionally, flip the rotis in the container so that the last one is sandwiched in between the other flatbreads. This helps to further soften them.

Gold Flax flour, I've never heard of it. I'm guessing it contains some amount of flax. I am allergic to flax depending on the quantity, so I am not sure I can use it. But I'll experiment for a gluten-free version.

I have tried with a gluten-free flour blend (brown rice, white rice, tapioca and potato starch) but the dough becomes very sticky and is nearly impossible to roll out nicely. I tried rolling it out between wax paper but when cooked, I did not find the texture good enough. So, I still haven't had much luck in getting this to work with gluten-free flour.

Plus, I experimented and made a gluten free version for my son. I used chickpea flour instead the wheat flour. The mixture turned out sticky and was a bit trickier to work with. I split the dough into 8. I kneaded in a little millet flour and also sprinkled the work surface and rolling pin with some millet flour. I made them a little smaller because they were trickier to handle but they still turned out yummy.

These look yummy and versatile. Since I am addicted to sweet potatoes and consume them daily, I look forward to making these. I am wondering if you've ever tried to freeze some? They look ideal to do this but I wonder about how to work with them after they are out of the freezer and thawed.

These look wonderful! just wondering, is there a reason you cook them whole and then peel when hot, rather than peel and chop from raw then steam and mash? it seems like peeling when hot would be more difficult!

I only keep the skin on to keep more nutrients in. When peeled, a lot of nutrients is lost in the steam and water. But you can certainly peel them then steam. If you are steaming them directly in the water though, the moisture content in the sweet potatoes will be a little more, so you might need to adjust the flour ratio accordingly until you get a soft dough that is not wet.